What are the Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs)?

The 2015 Code outlines ten Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs). Athletes, and Athlete Support Personnel (ASP), may receive a ban from sport if any of the following ADRVs are committed:

The presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete’s sample

Use or attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a prohibited method

Evading, refusing, or failing to submit to sample collection

Whereabouts failures: any combination of three missed tests and/or filing failures within a 12-month period by an athlete in a registered testing pool

Tampering or attempted tampering with any part of doping control

Possession of a prohibited substance or prohibited method

Trafficking or attempted trafficking in any prohibited substance or prohibited method

Administration or attempted administration to any athlete in-competition of any prohibited method or prohibited substance, or administration or attempted administration to any athlete out-of-competition of any prohibited method or any prohibited substance that is prohibited out-of-competition

Complicity: assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, conspiring, covering up or any other type of intentional complicity involving an ADRV or any attempted ADRV

Prohibited Association: associating with a person such as a coach, doctor or physio who has been found guilty of a criminal or disciplinary offence equivalent to a doping violation

All ten ADRVs apply to athletes. Only the ADRVs in bold apply to ASP.

Consequences are Significant

Under the 2015 Code, a minimum four-year ban from sport will apply to those who are found to be deliberately cheating and breaking the rules.

The 2015 Code has little sympathy for carelessness – for inadvertent doping, athletes are more likely to face a two-year ban from sport.

All athletes, coaches and athlete support personnel need to make sure they have sufficient anti-doping knowledge to avoid committing an ADRV and receiving a ban from sport.

Managing Inadvertent Doping Risks

The Prohibited List

All banned substances and methods in Code-compliant sports are outlined in the Prohibited List, which is updated at the beginning of every calendar year, but may also be updated throughout the year. The latest Prohibited List can be found on the WADA website [wada-ama.org]

Understand the Importance of Checking Medications

Before taking any medication (whether from a doctor or bought over the counter) athletes must check to make sure it does not contain any banned substances. Medications can be checked online at Global DRO [www.globaldro.co.uk]. It is important to note that medications bought in one country may contain different ingredients to the same branded medication in another country.

Know the Risks with Nutritional Supplements

Athletes are strongly advised to be very cautious if they choose to take any supplement such as vitamin tablets, energy drinks, or sport-nutrition formulas. This is because there is no guarantee that any supplement is free from banned substances.

All athletes are advised to:

assess the need to use supplements by seeking advice from a medical professional or nutritionist on their need to use supplement products

assess the risks associated with supplements and undertake thorough research of all supplement products they are considering taking

assess the consequences to their careers – they could receive a four-year ban

before making a decision to use supplements.

However, supplement risks can be reduced by:

undertaking thorough internet research

only using batch-tested products

checking on Informed-Sport (which is a risk minimisation programme) that the supplement has been batch tested

Apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)

Athletes who need to use a banned substance or method to treat a genuine medical condition, and there are no reasonable alternatives, may have to apply for a TUE.

International-level athletes (as defined by their International Federation) need to apply to their International Federation for a TUE

Athletes competing at National level need to apply to UKAD for a TUE

Athletes who have an existing TUE issued by UKAD do not need to reapply for a new TUE when becoming an International-Level Athlete. They should provide their International Federation with a copy of their TUE to ensure it is recognised.

Athletes listed under the ‘National’ category for their sport must apply for their TUE in advance of competing. The ‘National’ category for TUEs is defined by UKAD by sport and can be found on UKAD’s website. Only in an emergency situation or where there will be a severe impact on health should treatment begin without the necessary approval.

You can find out more about whether you need a TUE and how to apply for one (including emergency TUEs) on the UKAD website here.